


School Paper

by indigorose50



Series: Indigowallbreaker's Lazytown Prompts [77]
Category: LazyTown
Genre: Anxiety Attacks, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Gen, Poor Steph, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-27
Updated: 2017-09-27
Packaged: 2019-01-05 23:57:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12199845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/indigorose50/pseuds/indigorose50
Summary: Prompt: Sportacus helping an older Stephanie when she's dealing with bad anxiety?





	School Paper

Sportacus found Stephanie sitting with her back to a wall in the park. The teen had her arms wrapped around her legs, face buried in her knees, her whole body shaking. When he approached her, she had tried to talk, cry, and breathe at the same time, to little success.

“Don’t talk, just breathe,” Sportacus took her hands and pressed their foreheads together. He needed Stephanie to focus. “Follow my breathing, okay? You can do this, Stephanie, I know you can.” Sportacus breathed in and out in a steady rhythm. It took some time but eventually, Stephanie was breathing with him. She let out a hiccup and Sportacus pulled away, letting go of her hands. Stephanie wiped her face with the sleeve of her sweatshirt. 

“I’m sorry...” She said miserably.

“Don’t be sorry,” Sportacus said. He shifted to sit beside her against the wall. He let her collect herself before he asked, “What happened?”

Stephanie sniffed, “I have a paper due on Wednesday.” She brushed her hair from her face and didn’t go on.

“You have plenty of time,” Sportacus said, a little confused, “You have two whole days.”

“But I  _also_  have to help Ziggy with his math homework and then I promised  _Pixel_ I would test his new program and  _Stingy_ wanted to go shopping for the dance next week and Tuesdays are  _date nights_  for Trixie and me and I told Uncle I would cook dinner  _tonight_  since he has a meeting and I don’t know  _when_ I’m going to have time to work on this paper!”

She was getting worked up again and Sportacus grabbed her hand, rubbing his thumb against her knuckles, “You’re okay, just breathe.” She took in gulps of air. When she was a little calmer, he said, “It sounds like you have a lot on your plate.”

She nodded, “What do I do? How can I get all of it done?!”

“I don’t think you can, Stephanie.”

Stephanie looked scandalized, “ _What_?! But there’s  _always_ a way!”   

Sportacus shook his head, “Not this time. I think you gave yourself too much. You can’t do _everything_ , Stephanie.”

“ _You_ can!” She blurted out. She pulled her hand from his grasp and curled her fingers into fists, “You can help the town and save us and go on dates with Robbie  _and_ get to bed on time!”

“ _I_ know my limits,” Sportacus explained, “I know when I have to tell Bessie I can’t help fix something and I know when leave Robbie’s early so I can be well rested for the next day. It took a long time but I know my limits and try not to go beyond them. Otherwise it gets overwhelming and I end up helping no one.”

Stephanie wrapped her arms around her legs again and rested her chin on her knees. After a few moments, she looked back at Sportacus, “What do I do?”

“They’re your friends, Stephanie. They will understand you want to put you school work first.”

“But what do I  _tell_ them?”

Sportacus thought, “For starters, tell Pixel you can’t help him with his program. Then ask if Stingy can go shopping with you on Wednesday. That will give you something to look forward to after you hand in your paper. Ask Trixie if you could hang out tonight instead, that way she can help you make dinner. I know you two have fun cooking together. As for Ziggy, I’m sure I can convince Robbie to help him with math.”

Stephanie leaned over so her head was resting on Sportacus’ shoulder. She sighed in relief. “Thank you, Sportacus.”

“You are very welcome.”


End file.
